Hair drier



March 4, 1969 c.s. sELlNGx-:R

HAIR DRIER Filed June 29, 1967 sheet of 4 Y? (O n) "D,

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INVENTOR Cyan. SIGFmED SEUNGER BY 'Cahen' ATTO RNEYS C. S. SELINGER March 4, 1969 HAIR DRIER Sheet Filed June 29, 1957 lll lll-'Ill' IN V E NTOR CYRIL SusFRne-DSEUNGER ATTORNEYS March 4, 1969 c. s. SELINGER HAIR DRIER Sheet Filed June 29, 1967 IN V E NTOR CYRILSIsr-RIEU SELINGER LUM), C&QF, f

ATTORNEYS March 4, 1969 c. s. SELINGER 3,430,353

HAIR DRIER .filed June 29, 1967 sheet 4 of 4 INV E NTOR CYRILSIGFRaEDSEUNGER United States Patent O 29,420/ 66 U.S. Cl. 34-100 Int. Cl. A4511 20/26 1 Claim ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A hair drier in which jets of hot air are directed into the hair and in which currents of hot air are circulated around the hair, a suction passage, leading to two fans, being provided to collect and recirculate the hot air.

This invention relates to hair driers and is concerned with the provision of a drier of the hood type that will be effective as well as comfortable in use.

Many dilerent types of hair driers, employing hoods have been used or proposed in the past. Usually a cur rent of air is caused to flow around the surface of the head of hair and this has the disadvantage that the drying is rather inefficient and uneven. In particular the ow of air tends to be only over the outer surface of the hair and in addition its path depends on the shape of the hairstyle. It has also been proposed to direct jets of warm air at the hair, with a view to making the distribution less dependent 0n the hairstyle and in addition drying the hair in depth rather than merely on the surface. With such arrangements the hot air has been allowed, at least partially, to escape over the face or neck of the user. This not only wastes heat but also causes discomfort and restricts the air temperature that can be tolerated.

In certain known constructions in which the heated air is recirculated the air is withdrawn from the drying chamber through openings adjacent the top or back of head. This means that the hair opposite such openings will generally not be dried as effectively as that of other parts of the head.

According to the present invention a hair drier comprises a double-walled drying chamber having perforations in the inner wall to direct jets of air into the hair, a motor-fan unit including at least one fan, a delivery duct connecting the delivery of the motor-fan unit to the space between the walls of the drying chamber, an inlet manifold extending substantially the whole way round the opening of the chamber and communicating with the interior of the chamber through apertures occupying the major part of the periphery of the opening, and one or more suction passages connecting the manifold to the inlet of the motor fan unit and constituting the sole path for the supply of air thereto.

Preferably the motor-fan unit is carried by or with the drying chamber so as to be situated at the back of it and not substantially above the top of it when in use.

The walls of the drying chamber, or at least of its front portion, may be made of transparent material. This provides a compact machine as compared with certain known machines in which the motor-fan unit is in a separate pedestal, and avoids resistance to flow of the air and loss of heat in long passages. At the same time it avoids giving the user the impression of being placed beneath an Over-powering machine.

Preferably the perforations which direct the air-jets into the hair are distributed over the whole area of the head of hair, including the top.

The motor-fan unit may include at least one centrifugal 3,430,353 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 fan of a type provided with diffusing means, such as a volute scroll, for converting velocity energy to pressure energy. Some known constructions have employed an open type of fan which provides a iiow of air but little or no pressure to produce jets of warm air which will penetrate into a layer of hair.

In one form of the invention the manifold and suction air passage are constituted by the space between the outer wall of the drying chamber and an outer casing within which it is located. Such an arrangement tends to economise in heat and at the same time avoids exposing an excessively hot outer surface of the machine. Thus the hottest air is that delivered to the inner space from which the jets are directed on the hair to be dried, whilst air cooled by evaporation separates the outer wall of the drying chamber from the outer wall of the outer casing.

In an alternative form of the invention the suction air passageway comprises a pair of suction ducts communicating with opposite sides of the suction manifold.

The motor-fan unit may incorporate a pair of fans carried on opposite ends of the shaft of a single motor situated between them with its axis transverse.

If desired an opening may be provided from the delivery duct, to the atmosphere with a Valve, to permit escape of circulating air and produce an inflow of air round the opening of the drying chamber.

The invention may be put into practice in various Ways but certain specific embodiments will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a sectional side elevation of one form of hair drier;

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II-II of FIG- URE l;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional plan generally on the line III-III of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic sectional plan, generally similar to FIGURE 3, of a modified construction, and

FIGURES 5 and 6 are views similar respectively to FIGURES l and 2 of a further modied construction.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES l, 2 and 3, the drier comprises a double-walled drying chamber 1 shaped to lit over the head of the user in the usual way. Thus, the drying chamber 1 is roughly hemispherical and is supported so that the opening slopes down and back at an angle of about 30 from the users forehead to the back of the users neck.

The outer wall 2 of the drying chamber 1 is bolted to the end of one arm 10 of a generally L-shape-d casting 11. The apex of the casting 11 is bored to receive a hinge pin 12, the ends of which are held in a fork 13 attached to one end of a support tube 14, thereby providing a pivotal connection between the casting 11 and the support tube 14. Leaf springs 15 ditting into recesses in the casting 11 adjacent to the hinge pin 12 and adjustable by a screw 17 bear against the arms of the fork 13; the friction in this spring-biassed contact maintains the casting 11 in the desired position relative to the support tube 14. The end of the other ar-m of the casting 11 is recessed to receive the motor fan unit 20` which is held into the recess by saddle clamps 16.

The motor-fan unit 20 comprises a central motor 21 with its shaft 19 extending transversely, projecting from it in opposite directions and carrying at each end one of a pair of centrifugal fans 22 and 23.

The two fans 22 and 23 have inlets 18 and delivery passages 24 and 25, containing heater 26, leading into openings 28 and 29 in the outer wall 2 of the drying chamber 1, to which they are secured, so as to deliver heated air into the space 27 between the outer wall 2 and the inner wall 3 of the drying chamber 1.

The inner wall 3 of the drying chamber 1 is provided with a large number of small perforations 4 (in a modied arrangement the perforations are shaped to form convergent jet nozzles) so as to blow a large number of fine jets of air into the hair of the user so as to penetrate into the hair and dry it in depth.

An outer casing 31 covers the motor fan unit 20 and the rear part of the drying chamber and is secured to the latter by bolts "32 which engage threaded retaining pieces 33 attached to the inner wall 3 of the drying chamber 1. Air-tight seals are provided where the retaining pieces 33 pass through the outer wall 2. The casing 31 carries controls 30 for the motor and temperature, and the casting 11 is bolted to the casing 31 and projects through an opening in it.

Also secured to the drying chamber 1 and to the casing 31 by the bolts 32 is a shroud 34 which covers the forward portion of the drying chamber not covered by the outer casing 31. The shroud is shaped to follow the contours of the drying chamber 1, the margin adjacent the opening to the drying chamber being bent inwards to provide a manifold 35. Spacers 36 are provided to maintain the shroud in position, an-d to space it from the outer wall 2 of the drying chamber 1.

The walls 2 and =3 of the drying chamber 1 and the shroud 34 are made from a transparent thermoplastics material so that the user does not have the impression of being placed under a dangerous machine.

The outer casing 31 and the shroud 34 together provide suction inlets for the fans 22 and 23. Thus air is drawn through the manifold 35, through the space between the outer wall 2 and the shroud 34 or casing 31 to the fan inlets. When the drier is in use, most of the air sucked into the fans will be hot air collected in the channel 35 after it has penetrated into and circulated round the hair of the user. In this way, heat is conserved instead of being wasted, and in addition hot air is not blown past the users face. This makes for greater comfort to the user, and allows for higher operating temperatures since the user is considerably more sensitive to heat on the face than on the hair (especially when the hair is moist). If desired an opening (not shown) controlled by a valve (not shown) may be provided in either or each of the delivery passages 24 and 25 so as to allow some of the air to escape and ensure that a small quantity of fresh air is drawn in.

The controls 30 include an on/off switch and time switch for the motor 21 and a temperature control unit for the heater 26. The temperature control may be provided by conventional thermal switch type energy regulators, on/oif thermostats, or an automatic proportional control using semi-conductor devices such as thyristors and/or thermistors.

The centrifugal fans 22 and 23 are run at a speed of about 2,500 r.p.m. and each produces a head of about 1/z" Water under working conditions. A comparably sized open aXial-ow fan would produce an inadequately small head, perhaps 0.1-0.2" water, unless much increased in speed or dia-meter which in either case would cause intolerable noise.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention illustrated diagrammatically in FIGURE 4, the delivery passages 24 and 25 merge together into a single delivery duct 51, containing a heater 52. The duct 51 leads into an opening 53 near the centre of the outer wall 2 of the drying chamber 1.

In a further embodiment, illustrated diagrammatically in FIGURES 5 and 6, the fans 22 and 23 are provided with separate suction conduits 60. These conduits lead into an annular suction manifold of semi-circular crosssection 61 which encircles the opening of drying chamber 1, so that the inner margin of the manifold 61 projects upwardly and inwardly into the opening thereby affording a manifold similar to manifold 35 in FIGURES 1 and 2, and serving the same function.

The arrangements described provide an efficient drier that is comfortable for the user in use. With regard to eciency, the drier is of the recirculating type so that when heat has been imparted to a body of air, it is not immediately discarded but is used a number of times thereby economising in heat and enabling a heater of practicable rating to provide an effective temperature. Unlike certain known constructions in which hot air is delivered towards one part of the head, whilst being withdrawn from the neighbourhood of another part, the present construction directs jets of hot air distributed over substantially the whole area of the head of hair, thereby providing effective and uniform drying action.

This uniformity of drying action may be improved or a desired non-uniform distribution or pattern of drying may be obtained, by varying the number or size of the perforations or jets 4 in particular regions of the inner wall 3.

As already indicated the motor-fan unit is not on top of the users head but is situated to the rear of it, approximately level with the bottom edge of the hood so as to be unobtrusive and not overbearing.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A hair drier which comprises:

a double-walled drying chamber having perforations in the inner wall to direct jets of air into the hair,

a suction manifold extending substantially around the lower opening of said drying chamber to remove the air after impingement upon the hair,

a motor-fan unit incorporating a pair of fans carried on opposite ends of the shaft of a single motor situated between them with its axis transverse,

a delivery duct connecting the delivery of the motorfan unit to the space between the Kwalls of the drying chamber, and

a pair of suction ducts connecting opposite sides of the suction manifold respectively with the two fan inlets and constituting the sole path for the supply of air thereto,

the motor-fan unit being carried with the drying chamber so as to be situated at the back of it and not substantially above the top of it when in use.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,790,283 1/ 1931 Pickard 34-99 2,027,694 1/ 1936 List et al 34-100 2,074,018 3/ 1937 Gross 34-100 2,281,993 5/ 1942 Pritchard 34-100 XR 3,082,540 3/ 1963 Hiltenbrand 34--100 XR 3,320,679 5/ 1967 Collins 34-99 CARLTON R. CROYLE, Primary Examiner.

ALLAN D. HERRMANN, Assistant Examiner. 

